The party of Angela Merkel, the outgoing chancellor, is flailing in polls. We ask why the race has been so unpredictable and what outcomes now seem probable. In America, obtaining a kit to make an untraceable firearm takes just a few clicks; we examine efforts to close a dangerous legal loophole. And as sensitivities change, so do some bands’ names.
Chris Wexler had a crazy path to get where he is today. By his count, he is on his 6th career. His first job was on Capital Hill, followed up with a stint in Wall Street. After that, he produced independent theater, and then got into marketing and advertising, being one of the early adopters of ad tech.
He's married with two daughters, and is a huge baseball fan (the Minnesota Twins specifically). He reads a lot of non fiction books, interestingly about public projects and how it portrays power distribution in the United States.
All along his career, he was involved in the prevention of human trafficking. He has family members running organizations focused on this specific philanthropic pursuit. The opportunity came about for Chris to utilize all the different skill sets he'd obtained over his career, plus his advocacy for fighting human trafficking... and with that, it was a no brainer for him to start his current venture.
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We've been flirting with exceptional drought on and off in California for many years now. Bay Curious listener Nicholas Hardy is wondering if it's time to call it a megadrought. That got us wondering: what is a megadrought and are we in one?
Reported by Amy Mayer. Bay Curious is made by Olivia Allen-Price, Katrina Schwartz, Kevin Stark, Katie McMurran and Brendan Willard. Additional support from Erika Aguilar, Jessica Placzek, Kyana Moghadam, Isabeth Mendoza, Paul Lancour, Suzie Racho, Carly Severn, Ethan Lindsey, Vinnee Tong and Jenny Pritchett.
Flying has been a drag for years now. But there’s an extra level of stress on commercial flights this summer. Why is flying so terrible at this moment? And what’s a traveler to do?
If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Dear Prudence—and you’ll be supporting the work we do here on What Next. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to help support our work.
In which a failed Chicago flying saucer cult leads to a landmark study in social psychology, and John blames religious fervor on diet pills. Certificate #17854.
Flying has been a drag for years now. But there’s an extra level of stress on commercial flights this summer. Why is flying so terrible at this moment? And what’s a traveler to do?
If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Dear Prudence—and you’ll be supporting the work we do here on What Next. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to help support our work.
In the mid-19th century, a Hungarian physician named Ignaz Semmelweis advocated for an incredibly simple technique that would go on to save millions of lives.
However, when he first proposed it, his idea wasn’t just ignored, it was vehemently rejected by the very people who could have used it to save lives. Not only was the idea rejected, but he was ridiculed to a point that might have led to his early death.
Thomas O. Haakenson's book Grotesque Visions: The Science of Berlin Dada (Bloomsbury, 2021) focuses on the radical avant-garde interventions of Salomo Friedländer (aka Mynona), Til Brugman, and Hannah Höch as they challenged the questionable practices and evidentiary claims of late-19th- and early-20th-century science. Demonstrating the often excessive measures that pathologists, anthropologists, sexologists, and medical professionals went to present their research in a seemingly unambiguous way, this volume shows how Friedländer/Mynona, Brugman, Höch, and other Berlin-based artists used the artistic grotesque to criticize, satirize, and subvert a variety of forms of supposed scientific objectivity.
Lea Greenberg is a scholar of German studies with a particular focus on German Jewish and Yiddish literature and culture; critical gender studies; multilingualism; and literature of the post-Yugoslav diaspora.
After 20 years, the U.S. has pulled out the last of its troops from Afghanistan. We spoke with Democratic Rep. Barbara Lee, who was the only member of Congress to vote against the authorization of use of force that led to U.S. troops being in Afghanistan, to discuss the latest developments.
And in headlines: officials are still assessing the damage of Hurricane Ida, a new Texas law bans abortions as early as six weeks into a pregnancy, the Dept. of Education is investigating five states with bans on mask mandates in schools, and two Michigan parents were ordered to pay nearly $45,000 after throwing away their son's massive pornography collection.